Fragrant Orchid

The acclaimed actress and singer, Yamaguchi Yoshiko (aka Li Xianglan) emerged from Japan-occupied Manchuria to become a transnational star during the Second Sino-Japanese war. Her complex and intriguing life story as a convenient pawn, willing instrument, and tormented victim of Japan's imperialist ideology is told in her bestselling autobiography, translated here in full for the first time in English.